Sixense's new wireless controller houses the oblong Sixense Tracking Embedded Module (STEM, left), which OEMs can embed in their own specialized controllers, such as a head-mounted display, golf club, or tennis racket.
(Source: Sixense)

Sixense said they are not giving up on traditional funding sources, but want to use Kickstarter to popularize their solution to the developer community. Their system developers kit, which includes the base state pictured, is their first product under their own brand, but they claim they don't want to go into competition with their OEMs, but in fact want to attract more with this Kickstarter project.

Sixense is using Kickstarter in hopes of attracting more OEM clients. Instead of just consumers, they hope that developers who want to take their module and put it into their own controllers--say a head-mounted display, or a golf club, or tennis racket, or whatever--will contribute enough to their Kickstarter project to get the system development kit that includes the STEM base station. The base station recharges two of their own controllers, but also up to three power packs for OEMS using Sixense's module in thier own controller.

It almost makes more sense to me for somewhat established companies to use Kickstarter than it does for not established.Kickstarter opens a lot of opportunities, but it doesn't solve most of the problems of starting a business. It's still not easy to get past the initial project to the point of being a viable company.

You still have all of the same costs. They've just been moved in time. If you don't price it right, either you won't quite have enough money to create the infrastructure that goes along with building a company or you'll have spend everything and not have any left over for manufacturing the next batch.

With an established company, that infrastructure is already in place. There's (hopefully) a revenue stream already in place to smooth out the bumps and to sustain the product after launch.